Needs and Choices
by Christina-Potter-09
Summary: Post Series 3-AU Arthur and Morgana leave for Avalon after the fight with Mordred but by need and choice, they're back into life several times as to save Britain or just to spend the life in common they never had the chance to. ArMor Please R&R!


_OK everybody, here is a small shot for Arthur and Morgana, it losely based on the story, and it's something that stuck in my head while i was checking some pics of my fave tv series and movies with kings and queens of England (yes i have such category and file of photos :P )_

Enjoy...

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Needs and Choices_

Arthur's mouth fills with hot, suffocating blood as Mordred unplugs his sword from the King's stomach, all the while staring into the sapphire eyes of the monarch that was to fall so suddenly from the leader of the druids.

'Arthur! No!' her scream rips through the noises of the battle as she appears a moment later than needed and steps by Mordred's falling body and reaches her half brother, her first and only love.

'Mor-Morgana…' he whispers in agony as the only thing he can see is her face, unchanged, unharmed by time and he is glad because this must be a dream and this will be the last thing he sees before Death can take him, her beautiful face, her amazing emerald eyes.

'No… it's alright, Arthur, I'll make it alright, stay with me.' She whispers frantically as her hand clutches at the big gap the sword's blade left. She glances at the dead young man by their side, Mordred is dead, Arthur is dying and soon Albion will be with no Pendragon as he never had heirs with Guinevere and Morgana had taken her decision, years ago, she's leaving with Arthur.

Avalon is the place of their salvation, she saves him there, he becomes immortal like her and they finally find peace together, in the place they belong. The healing process took time, days for the time in Avalon, centuries for the normal world outside. And they're finally happy while the world moves on out there, but they know, Arthur will be needed again and again for Britain, for Albion, for the kingdom that great island always was, and they also know, Morgana will always have to play a big part as well.

So they know, other times they will be out of Avalon by need for the people and others because of their own choice, their own doing, because forever is a long time and they need to feel the thrill of being mortal, of facing death before they can go back to Avalon.

They know the rules, in each life out of Avalon, they will have no memory of their true selves, in every reincarnation of theirs they will be meeting again and again but they will be recognizing each other right before Death can take one of them away and send him back to Avalon, they're both made of Magic, the thrill is inside them, the God and the Goddess are inside them, they're no ordinary beings, never were and never will, no matter the time and space of their returns.

_**By Need**_

'What is your name?' the king asks and she smiles, her mane is the same, long and brown, her eyes are darker but her spirit as fierce, it's their first time out of Avalon but they do not know yet, they only feel this unstoppable attraction to each other. They have no idea of how much hurt they are capable of…

'Anne Boleyn, my Lord…' she answers and the king keeps the name inside his heart, he's different than the first time a crown was on his head, he does not remember of course but these two and the fruit of their marriage are to save Britain.

…

'You promised me a son!' he screams at her as the servants rush to take little Elizabeth from her mother's hands, another fight is about to start. 'None accepts her to be engaged with any prince, the kings and the Emperor declare her a bastard!' he keeps screaming and Anne tries to take a breath, a daughter and a miscarriage, she's losing control, like she once did and she knows her throne starts to shake, just like before.

Will they always be like that, Him the king and she the victim of the circumstances?

'My lord… I promise, the next one will be a male, I swear…' she tries desperately and he huffs as he looks at her for a moment more before he can grip her by the hips and push her against the closest furniture, she holds the tears back as he lifts up her skirts…

'For your own good, I hope this will be the time,' he rasps in her ear as he thrusts deep inside her still tender from the miscarriage body and she bits her lip until she draws blood on it as the pain runs through her.

…

'Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me.

'O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.' She said the words and she means them, even if her husband, the king condemned her to death, with accusations that were false, witchcraft, adultery, incest… she would never commit such crimes, not against him. Her only crime was not to give birth to a healthy son.

She suddenly remembers it all, she knows who she truly is and who he is… she recognizes that her current sacrifice won't be in vain as the child from _her_ womb will become one of the greatest queens of all time. She and Arthur were needed for the creation of Elizabeth, she and Arthur were needed to start a new course for Britain's religion like they should have done before, when the Old Religion was at stake.

She now accepts the blade gladly, knowing he will lead an unhappy life until he's back to Avalon, back to her, knowing that even if her current body will be abandoned and hastily buried… her name as Queen Anne Boleyn will always be there, for the people to remember the mother of the Virgin Queen.

_**By Choice**_

He runs through the forest on his horse and he hopes he can finally catch the evil creature, the sacred book is held in his hand, the _Malleus Maleficarum_, his guide, _his_ sacred book, if he catches this one, his pockets will be filled with gold, she deserves to die, all creatures who have made pacts with the Devil deserve to die.

Her hysteric laugh echoes through the forest and he feels his heart being squeezed as he urges his horse to go faster, he's approaching and she's using craft to scare him, it won't happen this time.

She seduced him once, but not again.

She appears out of nowhere and his horse stands on its back legs in fear as the woman appeared out of thin air. He holds the cross against her but she doesn't seem to be affected. She's a woman, he was supposed to be gentle with women, but this one is corrupted, in love with the devil and worshiping his ways when their holy church speaks of Jesus Christ.

'A cross will do nothing,' the redhead informs him and he attacks, they end up on the floor, him on top, blade squeezed dangerously beneath her left full breast, ready to cut deep, her own dagger presses against his side, ready to make a damage serious enough to have him bleeding out in a matter of minutes. They're not going to back down, the hatred they share is unique, but there is always a small dose of love in every "I hate you", and these two have exchanged these little words too many times to count.

They blink for a moment as they remain like that with him on top and her gasping against his heavy form between her legs, and as Death approaches, this time by choice, they smile at each other and Arthur kisses her hard, and she responds in the same vigor, the same thrill, they both scream in pain as they push the blades inside each other's flesh at the same time and Avalon is waiting once again.

_**By Need**_

'May I present you, Prince Albert, of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,' her guardian announces the young prince and Victoria smiles politely at the man before her, he looks interesting, for the first time in her life, they bring an interesting guest to see her golden cage, where she's locked until in the throne and ready to start breeding like a maniac.

…

'Come on your Majesty, one final push and the baby will be out!' the maid urged on and Victoria pushed one more time, with all her strength as she screamed out in torturous pain. The room was finally filled with a baby's cry and Victoria collapsed on the bed the moment Albert burst inside the room, his seven year old son, Arthur was by his side as he rushed close to Victoria's side who was still gasping and whimpering in the aftershocks of her ninth labor.

'Please, no more children, I beg you,' she calls out and he kisses her forehead and thanks her for everything, giving him another child, a daughter as it is announced, their little Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore, for surviving yet another labor, for being his beloved wife, the one he had saved twice already from assassination attacks. They adore each other, and maybe, just maybe, this will be the only life time they will be joyfully joint until the end, with their nine children, they're mistaken.

…

'No… I beg you…. Don't do this to me, do not leave me….' She begs in her tears, he's still so young, only forty two and already drifting away because of the fever, it's night and their five older children are gathered around their father's bed but she cannot hear or pay attention to anyone, her life is crumbling, once again as he murmurs in his delirium. He's pale and weak and nothing compared to the man he truly is. Her heart breaks and sinks as he tries to lift his hand and touch her face, she leans into it as more tears ran down her cheeks, she's not the same young woman who had met him, after nine children, her body and face are changed, like his are, they're different yet so utterly the same.

She doesn't understand what he means when he whispers weakly "this is as good as it gets" but she truly believes him when he whispers "I love you, my queen" before he can exhale for the last time, plunging her in mourning for the rest of her life, having her with her isolation changing the face of Monarchy in Britain.

She understands him, years later, when she's old and grey, eighty one years old with nine children of which three she has outlived, forty two grandchildren of which she outlived eleven, the entire Europe linked to her throne and her son's, Edward, she understands Albert, or should she call him Arthur? It was him, again, it was them who helped Britain, and she remembers everything as she drifts away and he waits for her, like she remembered him in their first life, blond and beautiful at the gates of their magical paradise.

_**By Choice**_

The world looks too modern for two old souls, there are cars and the internet and the kings and queens hold only the symbolizing importance of the ruler when the governments decide upon everyone's fate, even the royals' in the countries they still exist, but this time it is not their problem to deal with, they're not needed, at least yet, they're there because they chose to be.

In this world there is technology, _Harry Potter_, medicine that would have saved them before, ways of conceiving the child you want… things that would have spared them the trouble, yet they do not think too much of it, things were to happen the way they did, everything is happening for a reason.

The Library is not as full as it could be, the young man notices as he enters the chamber with the desks, he looks around and his sapphire eyes immediately fell on the beautiful creature in the far corner of the place.

She's young, amazingly beautiful, with very long raven hair and emerald eyes that currently scan some lines in a book before she can scribe down something in a notebook of hers, she could use a laptop or some other device but she somehow would look odd with such a modern device in her beautiful hands.

Old souls attract each other, he feels it in the way she immediately glances up at him before she can return to her notes.

He approaches in silence gripping a book without looking the title or the kind, he just wants to approach, from the moment he woke up that day, he had an urge to come to the library he had so long to visit.

As he gets closer he looks at the issues she has taken:

_Wicca, a Guide for all_

_Sabbats and Esbats_

_The Road to Avalon_

_The Goddess through the Ages_

_The Arthurian Legends, all the versions of the tale_

_The divine Female_

_The New Old Religion_

She glances up at him with her beautiful eyes, for now shielded by her nerdy, yet cute reading glasses and he gives a bright smile.

'Hi… Can I seat here? The rest of the desks are taken…' he says and the young woman looks around them, at least half of the tables are empty, she turns her head back to him and smiles lovingly yet teasingly.

'Sure… you will need a seat to read this without embarrassing yourself to the _countless_ of people that are in here,' She says playfully and he looks down at the book he had taken absentmindedly.

_Kama Sutra_

Of course he would have chosen the most embarrassing issue from the fourteen million of the place before he could meet a girl for the first time. He decides to pick up his pieces, she's smart, quick, witty and friendly, his type.

'I'm Arthur, by the way…' he says as he sits down and offers his hand above the books she has laid open before her. She smiles, sets her pen behind her ear, somewhere in her mane and offers her hand as well.

'I'm Morgaine, but people call me Morgan,' she says and he grins as his eyes fell on the books again, some of them have to do with the Arthurian Legend…

'Nice coincidence… my name is Arthur… yours is basically Morgana…. And here you are studying about the Legend…' Arthur says as he runs a hand through his blond hair and she grins, almost smirks, like centuries back, when she was trying to kill Uther.

'Some coincidence…' she comments lightly but her eyes say a different story. He glances at her notebook, an essay, _"The influence of your religion on the analysis of a famous Legend through the ages, how you see the main characters as individuals." _He snorts at the title, sounds a bit stupid but then he gets it.

'You're a Wiccan,' he says and she grins as she turns a page on a book about the Religion of the Goddess and witchcraft, the new chance for the Old Religion to return. Arthur could remember an article on a magazine about Wicca being the fifth religion in the world and the most rapidly growing in numbers at the moment.

'A solitary Wiccan... More coincidences…' She comments as she takes her eyes away from the symbol of a triquetra and looks back at him. She smiles after a moment and he smiles back, they know each other, they might not remember how or why, but they know each other. Suddenly they realize they have seen each other before, in the subway, in pubs, in clubs and the university, she studies philosophy, he studies history, they have met each other there as well, in history, in the pages of great kings and queens, of legends that became myths and myths that became fairy tales.

Their initial identities are even questioned by the current scientists, but they know they existed, _co-existed_, when things were different. When the Old Religion had just died. In the time a Queen was executed for witchcraft but her daughter became one of the best Queens of all time when the only thing the King had wanted was a on, when women were on the stake because of the simple moles and birthmarks on their skin. And when "The empire on which the sun never sets" was raised because of the Empress of India who united Europe with her nine children and more than forty grandchildren. They co-existed in many more times and occasions in between those, some out of destiny's need, some of their own choice, they had felt the thrill of the mortals, and they had embraced death every time, knowing they were returning to Avalon.

'I can help you with the essay,' Arthur offers and the woman smiles kindly at him.

'I would love that,' she says softly and he stands up, the _Kama Sutra_ forgotten, for now at least, and he moves by her side instead of before her.

They spend hours in the library table, talking in whispers about the Arthurian Legend while years and years of literature, history and science stand around them, proud yet silent as two old souls are united again, for this lifetime as well.

And maybe this lifetime, will be a happy one, the thrills will be the ones of joy and when Avalon will have its gates open again, they will be leaving this world both grey and happy instead of separated from each other, until the next time they will be needed out of the magical place again.

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OOK what u think? I wanted Arthur and Morgana in and out of Avalon, they're both free spirits so i can imagine them longing for the mortal thrills of life and also, the legend has it that Arthur will be needed again, so why not needed more times than one?

I hope i showed some of the similarities ArMor have with Henry-Anne and I hope you liked their modern versions...

Thanks for reading, please review

CP09


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